Image forming apparatus having test printing function, control method for the image forming apparatus, storage medium, and image forming system

ABSTRACT

An image forming apparatus which prevents a user from being confused when print data comprised of a plurality of sections is printed by the image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus is able to perform test printing of print data for which a plurality of copies are to be printed. Whether or not a plurality of sections are included in selected print data is determined, and when it is determined that a plurality of sections are included in the selected print data, execution of the test printing is restricted.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, a controlmethod for the image forming apparatus, a storage medium, and an imageforming system.

Description of the Related Art

When print data comprised of a plurality of sections is to be printed onrecording sheets, a user may set different numbers of print copies forrespective ones of the plurality sections constituting the print data.In this case, an image forming apparatus prints the sections of theprint data on recording sheets based on the numbers of print copies setby the user.

There are known image forming apparatuses which have a test printingfunction of, when printing multiple copies of print data comprised ofone section, printing only one copy of print data on recording sheetsfirst (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai)No. 2001-341361). When a user has obtained a desired printing result bytest printing, the image forming apparatus described in JapaneseLaid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2001-341361 prints the samenumber of copies of print data as a number obtained by subtracting onefrom the number of print copies originally intended.

However, when a user orders test printing for print data which iscomprised of a plurality of sections and for which different numbers ofprint copies are set for the respective sections, the user may beconfused.

Assume, for example, that the number of print copies for the firstsection is set to 1, and the number of print copies for the secondsection is set to 10. Conventionally, for print data comprised of onesection, an instruction to perform test printing is not accepted becauseit is useless to perform test printing when the number of print copiesis set to 1.

For print data comprised of a plurality of sections mentioned above, thenumber of print copies set for the second section is plural, and henceit is useful to perform test printing for the second section, but it isuseless to perform test printing for the first sections. If testprinting is performed only for the second section, a user may beperplexed by test printing being not performed for the first section.

Further, when results of test printing can be seen only after bothprinted matter of the first section and printed matter of the secondsection are available, it is useless to perform test printing only forthe second section. Moreover, if test printing is performed for thefirst section, the first section is not printed at the time of normalprinting after test printing, and hence a user may be perplexed by thisafter all.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an image forming apparatus and a controlmethod therefor, which are capable of preventing a user from beingconfused when print data comprised of a plurality of sections is printedby the image forming apparatus having a test printing function, astorage medium, and an image forming system.

Accordingly, the present invention provides an image forming apparatuswhich is capable of performing test printing of print data for which aplurality of copies are to be printed, comprising a determination unitconfigured to determine whether a plurality of sections are included inselected print data, and a restriction unit configured to, when saiddetermination unit determines that a plurality of sections are includedin selected print data, restrict execution of the test printing.

According to the present invention, whether or not a plurality ofsections is included in print data is determined, and when a pluralityof sections is included in the print data, execution of test printing isrestricted. This prevents a user from being confused when print datacomprised of a plurality of sections is printed using the image formingapparatus having the test printing function.

Further features of the present invention will become apparent from thefollowing description of exemplary embodiments (with reference to theattached drawings).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing an arrangement of animage forming system including an image forming apparatus according toan embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing an internal arrangementof the image forming apparatus in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram schematically showing an internal arrangementof system software of the image forming apparatus, which is executed bya CPU of the image forming apparatus in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram schematically showing an internal arrangementof a PC in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram schematically showing an internal arrangementof system software of the PC, which is executed by a CPU of the PC inFIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the procedure of a job sending processwhich is carried out by a printer driver in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the procedure of a storage process inwhich a print job sent to the image forming apparatus in step S602 inFIG. 6 is stored in the image forming apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a view useful in explaining a bibliographical information liststored in an HDD in step S706 in FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the procedure of a display process inwhich a print job list which is a list of print jobs stored in the HDDin the storage process in FIG. 7 is displayed.

FIG. 10 is a view useful in explaining the print job list which isgenerated in step S903 in FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is a view useful in explaining a number-of-copies designationscreen which is displayed on an operating unit when a number-of-copiesdesignation button in FIG. 10 is depressed.

FIG. 12 is a view useful in explaining a test printing in-executionscreen which is displayed on the operating unit when a test print buttonin FIG. 10 is depressed.

FIG. 13 is a view useful in explaining a test printing completion screenwhich is displayed on the operating unit when test printing performed inresponse to depression of the test print button in FIG. 10 is completed.

FIG. 14 is a view useful in explaining an exemplary structure of a printjob which is executed by a job control unit in FIG. 3.

FIG. 15 is a view useful in explaining an exemplary structure of abanner print job which is an example of the print job in FIG. 14.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the procedure of a test printing processin which test printing is performed for the print job in FIG. 14.

FIG. 17 is a view showing a first variation of the test printing processin FIG. 16.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the procedure of a second variation ofthe test printing process in FIG. 16.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing the procedure of a third variation of thetest printing process in FIG. 16.

FIG. 20 is a view useful in explaining a warning screen which isdisplayed on the operating unit in step S1901 in FIG. 19.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing the procedure of a variation of the testprinting process in FIG. 19.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing the procedure of a fourth variation ofthe test printing process in FIG. 16.

FIG. 23 is a view useful in explaining a mode selection screen which isdisplayed on the operating unit in step S2201 in FIG. 22.

FIG. 24 is a view useful in explaining a test print mode determinationscreen for use in determining in advance in step S1605 in FIG. 22 a modein which test printing is performed.

FIG. 25 is a flowchart showing the procedure of a variation of the testprinting process in FIG. 18.

FIG. 26 is a view useful in explaining a number-of-copies setting screenwhich is displayed on the operating unit in step S2503 in FIG. 25.

FIG. 27 is a view useful in explaining a test printing advanced settingscreen for use in designating an object for which test printing is to beperformed before test printing is started after the number of printcopies is set for each of batches in the step S2503 in FIG. 25.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will now be described in detail with reference tothe drawings showing an embodiment thereof.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing an arrangement of animage forming system 100 including an image forming apparatus 101according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The image forming system 100 has the image forming apparatus 101 and aPC 102, and the image forming apparatus 101 and the PC 102 are connectedtogether via a LAN 103. Print data is sent from the PC 102 to the imageforming apparatus 101, which in turn prints the print data.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing an internal arrangementof the image forming apparatus 101 in FIG. 1.

The image forming apparatus 101 in FIG. 2 has a controller unit 201, anoperating unit 202, a scanner 203, and a printer 204. The controllerunit 201 has a CPU 205, a RAM 206, a ROM 207, an HDD 208, an operatingunit I/F 209, a network I/F 210, and a device I/F 211, and thesecomponent elements are connected to one another via a system bus 212.

The CPU 205 controls the component elements of the image formingapparatus 101. The RAM 206 is a system work memory for the CPU 205 andstores programs and various data such as image data, an operatingsystem, system software, and application software. The ROM 207 stores aboot program for the image forming apparatus 101. The HDD 208 stores anoperating system, system software, application software, image data,setting data, and so on. The operating unit I/F 209 connects thecontroller unit 201 and the operating unit 202 together, the networkunit I/F 210 connects the controller unit 201 and the LAN 103 together,and the device I/F 211 connects the controller unit 201 and the scanner203 and the printer 204 together.

The operating unit 202 has hardware keys, an operating panel, and so on,and a user inputs instructions to the image forming apparatus 101through the hardware keys and the operating panel. It should be notedthat the operating panel may have, for example, a liquid crystalmonitor, and for example, information on the image forming apparatus 101is displayed on the liquid crystal monitor. The scanner 203 reads animage and generates image data based on the read image. The generatedimage data is stored in, for example, the HDD 208. The printer 204prints, for example, print data stored in the HDD 208.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram schematically showing an internal arrangementof system software 300 of the image forming apparatus 101, which isexecuted by the CPU 205 of the image forming apparatus 101 in FIG. 2.

The system software 300 in FIG. 3 has a user interface control unit 301,a data management unit 302, a storage control unit 303, a networkcontrol unit 304, a job management unit 305, and a job control unit 306,and these component elements are connected to one another via a bus 307.

The user interface control unit 301 receives information input by a uservia the operating unit 202 and sends the received information to thedata management unit 302 and the job management unit 305. The userinterface control unit 301 also displays, on the operating unit 202,information received from the data management unit 302 and the jobmanagement unit 305.

The data management unit 302 receives a request relating to writing ofdata or readout of data from the user interface control unit 301, thenetwork control unit 304, or the job management unit 305 and sends thisrequest to the storage control unit 303. The data management unit 302also receives a response to this request from the storage control unit303 and sends this response to the user interface control unit 301, thenetwork control unit 304, or the job management unit 305.

The storage control unit 303 receives a request relating to writing ofdata or readout of data from the data management unit 302, and forexample, writes data into the HDD 208 or reads out data from the HDD208. The storage control unit 303 then notifies the data management unit302 of whether or not the writing or readout is successful. The networkcontrol unit 304 receives a request relating to processing from the PC102 and sends this request to the data management unit 302 and the jobmanagement unit 305. The network control unit 304 also receives aresponse to this request from the data management unit 302 and the jobmanagement unit 305 and sends this response to the PC 102.

The job management unit 305 receives, for example, job executionrequests from the user interface control unit 301 and the networkcontrol unit 304 and manages received jobs. The job management unit 305also requests the job control unit 306 to execute the received jobs.Further, when, for example, a print job list, to be described later, isrequested by the job control unit 306, the job management unit 305requests the print job list from the user interface control unit 301.The job control unit 306 receives requests relating to job executionfrom the job management unit 305 and controls operation of the scanner203 and the printer 204. The job control unit 306 also receivesinformation on operating statuses of the scanner 203 and the printer 203and sends the information on the operating statuses to the jobmanagement unit 305.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram schematically showing an internal arrangementof the PC 102 in FIG. 1.

The PC 102 in FIG. 4 has a CPU 401, a ROM 402, a RAM 403, an HDD 404, aninput device 405, a display device 406, and a network I/F 407, and thesecomponent elements are connected to one another via a system bus 408.

The CPU 401 is a computation device which controls the overall system ofthe PC 102. The ROM 402 stores programs and data. The RAM 403 is asystem work memory for the CPU 401 and stores, for example, image data.The HDD 404 stores programs, image data, application data, and so on.The input device 405 is, for example, a keyboard or a pointing deviceand used for a user to input instructions to the PC 102. The displaydevice 406 displays an operating condition of the PC 102 and informationon programs running on the PC 102. The network I/F 407 connects the PC102 and the LAN 103 together, and the PC 102 and the image formingapparatus 101 communicate with each other via the LAN 103.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram schematically showing an internal arrangementof system software 500 of the PC 102, which is executed by the CPU 401of the PC 102 in FIG. 4.

The system software 500 has an application 501 and a printer driver 502,which is connected to the application 501. The application 501 is, forexample, software which creates or edits image data and document data.For example, a user creates document data using the application 501 andsends the created document data as a print job to the image formingapparatus 101 via the printer driver 502. The printer driver 502 allowsdesignation of the number of print copies and banner printing. It shouldbe noted that banner printing is designated, a recording sheet on whicha job name of a print job, the date and time at which the print job wassent to the image forming apparatus 101, a user name of a user who sentthe print job to the image forming apparatus 101, and so on are written(hereafter referred to as “a banner sheet”) is printed when the printjob is executed.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the procedure of a job sending processwhich is carried out by the printer driver 502 in FIG. 5. The process inFIG. 6 is carried out when the printer driver 502 sends a print job fromthe PC 102 to the image forming apparatus 101.

Referring to FIG. 6, first, the printer driver 502 generates PDL (pagedescription language) data from print data which has been designated bya user as data to be printed (step S601), sends the PDL data as a printjob to the image forming apparatus 101 (step S602), and terminates thepresent process.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the procedure of a storage process inwhich a print job sent to the image forming apparatus 101 in the stepS602 in FIG. 6 is stored in the image forming apparatus 101.

Referring to FIG. 7, first, the network control unit 304 receives aprint job from the PC 102 and sends the received print job to the jobmanagement unit 305 (step S701). The job management unit 305 receivesthe print job and determines whether or not the print job needs to bestored in the HDD 208 (hereafter referred to as “a job to be stored”)(step S702). It should be noted that whether or not the print job is ajob to be stored is determined based on, for example, at least one ofthe following: a print job name, a user name of a user who sent theprint job from the PC 102, and identification information on the PC 102.

As a result of the determination in the step S702, when the print job isa job to be stored, the job management unit 305 sends the print job tothe data management unit 302 (step S703). The data management unit 302analyzes the received print job and extracts bibliographical informationon the print job (step S704) and sends the print job and the extractedbibliographical information to the storage control unit 303 (step S705).The storage control unit 303 stores the received print job andbibliographical information as a bibliographical information list 800,to be described later, in the HDD 208 (step S706) and terminates thepresent process.

As a result of the determination in the step S702, when the print job isnot a job to be stored, the job management unit 305 requests the jobcontrol unit 306 to execute the print job, and the job control unit 306controls the printer 204 to execute the print job (step S707) andterminates the present process.

FIG. 8 is a view useful in explaining the bibliographical informationlist 800 stored in the HDD 208 in the step S706 in FIG. 7.

Bibliographical information 806 corresponding to print jobs is recordedin the bibliographical information list 800 in FIG. 8. Thebibliographical information 806 includes dates and times 801, user names802, storage locations 803, a print job names 804, and print settings805. At the dates and times 801, users indicated as the user names 802issue instructions to send print jobs corresponding to respective piecesof the bibliographical information 806 from the PC 102 to the imageforming apparatus 101, and the print jobs are stored in the storagelocations 803. The print job names 804 and the print settings 805 in thebibliographical information 806 are names of and print settings on printjobs concerned.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the procedure of a display process inwhich a print job list which is a list of print jobs stored in the HDD208 in the storage process in FIG. 7 is displayed. The process in FIG. 9is carried out by the user interface control unit 301.

In the process in FIG. 9, first, the user interface control unit 301requests a print job list from the job management unit 305. The jobmanagement unit 305 obtains the bibliographical information list 800from the data management unit 302 and sends the obtained bibliographicalinformation list 800 to the user interface control unit 301 (step S901).The user interface control unit 301 analyzes the receivedbibliographical information list 800 (step S902), generates a print joblist 1000, to be described below (step S903), displays the print joblist 1000 on the operating unit 202 (step S904), and terminates thepresent process.

FIG. 10 is a view useful in explaining the print job list 1000 which isgenerated in the step S903 in FIG. 9.

The print job list 1000 in FIG. 10 has a bibliographical informationdisplay area 1001, a delete button 1003, a number-of-copies designationbutton 1004, a test print button 1005, a print button 1006, and a scrollbutton 1007. Bibliographical information 1002 corresponding to printjobs is displayed in the bibliographical information display area 1001.The delete button 1003 is depressed to delete the bibliographicalinformation 1002 selected by a user, and the number-of-copiesdesignation button 1004 is depressed to change the number of printcopies in the bibliographical information 1002 selected by a user.

The test print button 1005 is depressed to perform test printing for aprint job relating to the bibliographical information 1002 selected by auser (executing instruction accepted). The print button 1006 isdepressed to execute a print job, and the scroll button 1007 isdepressed to display the bibliographical information 1002 which is notbeing displayed in the bibliographical information display area 1001.

When the number-of-copies designation button 1004 is depressed, the userinterface control unit 301 displays a number-of-copies designationscreen 1100 in FIG. 11. The number-of-copies designation screen 1100 hasan input area 1101, a confirm button 1102, and a cancel button 1103.When a user desires to change the number of print copies in thebibliographical information 1002, he or she enters the number of printcopies desired in the input area 1101 and depresses the confirm button1102 to thus change the number of print copies. When the user depressesthe cancel button 1103, the print job list 1000 is displayed again onthe operating unit 202 with the number of print copies in thebibliographical information 1002 unchanged.

When the test print button 1005 is depressed, the user interface controlunit 301 displays a test printing in-execution screen 1200 (FIG. 12), bywhich a user recognizes that test printing is being in execution, on theoperating unit 202, and when test printing is completed, displays a testprinting completion screen 1300 (FIG. 13) on the operating unit 202. Thetest print completion screen 1300 has a main print button 1301 and acancel button 1302. A user depresses the main print button 1301 when adesired printing result has been obtained as a result of test printing,for example, when a printing result of which characters and figuresmatch a user's expectation has been obtained, and the user depresses thecancel button 1302 when a desired printing result has not been obtained.

When the main print button 1301 is depressed, the user interface controlunit 301 requests the job control unit 306 to perform main printing viathe job management unit 305, and the job control unit 306 controls theprinter 204 to perform main printing. When the cancel button 1302 isdepressed, the print job list 1000 is displayed again on the operatingunit 202.

FIG. 14 is a view useful in explaining an exemplary structure of a printjob 1401 which is executed by the job control unit 306 in FIG. 3.

The print job 1401 is comprised of a plurality of sections displayed asbinders 1402 to 1404 in FIG. 14. The binder 1402 has a page 1405, thebinder 1403 has pages 1406 to 1408, and the binder 1404 has a page 1409.

Printing results corresponding to the respective binders 1402 to 1404are subjected to a finishing process such as a stapling process, apunching process, a double-sided printing process, or a number of printcopies printing process. Also, for example, the binder 1402 is subjectedto one-sided printing, and the binders 1403 and 1404 are subjected todouble-sided printing. Further, the binders 1402 to 1404 have the numberof binder copies 1410 to 1412, respectively, which show the number ofprint copies to be made from themselves, and the number of binder copies1410 to 1412 define the number of print copies to be made from thebinders 1402 to 1404, respectively. The pages 1405 to 1409 are subjectedto printing control such as a color printing process and a number ofprint copies printing process on a page-by-page basis.

FIG. 15 is a view useful in explaining an exemplary structure of abanner print job which is an example of the print job 1401 in FIG. 14.

The banner print job 1501 is comprised of two sections which aredisplayed as binders 1502 and 1503 in FIG. 15. The binder 1502 has apage 1504, and the binder 1503 has pages 1505 to 1507. The page 1504 isa banner sheet, and the pages 1505 to 1507 are, for example, documentscreated by a user.

In the present embodiment, each of the pages 1504 to 1507 is comprisedof one document, and the number of binder copies (the number of printcopies) for the binder 1502 is one, and the number of print copies forthe binder 1503 is three. Thus, when the banner print job 1501 isexecuted, one printing result is obtained for the page 1504, and aboutthree printing results are obtained for each of the pages 1505 to 1507.It should be noted that to perform test printing for the banner printjob 1501, a user does not have to check a printing result for the page1504, which is a banner sheet, in many cases. In this case, testprinting for the page 1504 may be dispensed with.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the procedure of a test printing processin which test printing is performed for the print job 1401 in FIG. 14.The process in FIG. 16 is started when the test print button 1005 isdepressed with any one of print jobs selected on the print job list inFIG. 10.

Referring to FIG. 16, first, the user interface control unit 301analyzes the print job 1401 selected by a user and determines whether ornot the number of binders constituting the print job 1401 is one (stepS1601). As a result of the determination in the step S1601, when thenumber of binders constituting the print job 1401 is not one, the userinterface control unit 301 grasps the numbers of binder copies (thenumber of print copies) for respective binders (step S1602) anddetermines whether or not the grasped numbers of binder copies for therespective binders are the same (step S1603).

As a result of the determination in the step S1601, when the number ofbinders constituting the print job 1401 is one, the user interfacecontrol unit 301 requests the job management unit 305 to perform testprinting for the print job 1401 (step S1605), and when test printing iscompleted, the user interface control unit 301 displays the testprinting completion screen 1300 on the operating unit 202 (step S1606).The user then depresses the main print button 1301 or the cancel button1302 (step S1607), and the user interface control unit 301 determineswhether or not the button depressed by the user is the main print button1301 (step S1608).

As a result of the determination in the step S1608, when the main printbutton 1301 is depressed, the user interface control unit 301 performsmain printing (step S1609) and terminate the present process. As aresult of the determination in the step S1608, when the cancel button1302 is depressed, the present process is terminated with the step S1609skipped.

As a result of the determination in the step S1603, when the numbers ofbinder copies for the respective binders are not the same, test printingis canceled (restricted) (step S1604), followed by termination of thepresent process. As a result of the determination in the step S1603,when the numbers of binder copies for the respective binders are thesame, the process proceeds to the step S1605.

It should be noted that when the processes in the steps S1602 and S1603are skipped, and it is determined in the step S1601 that the number ofbinder copies is not one, the process may proceed to the step S1604.

FIG. 17 is a view showing a first variation of the test printing processin FIG. 16. According to the flowchart in FIG. 16, the processes in thestep S1601 and the subsequent steps are carried out after the test printbutton 1005 is depressed, whereas according to the first variation, theprocesses in the steps S1601 to S1603 are carried out in response to anyone of print jobs being selected on the print job list in FIG. 10.

When it is determined in the step S1601 that the number of binders isone, or when it is determined in the step S1603 that the numbers ofbinder copies are the same, the number-of-copies designation button 1004and the test print button 1005 are displayed in an operable state asshown in FIG. 10. On the other hand, when it is determined in the stepS1603 that the numbers of binder copies for the respective binders arenot the same, a print job list 1700 is displayed with a number-of-copiesdesignation button 1701 and a test print button 1702 in an inoperablestate (shaded state) as shown in FIG. 17.

It should be noted here that when the processes in the steps S1602 andS1603 are skipped, and it is determined in the step S1601 that thenumber of binders is not one, the number-of-copies designation button1701 and the test print button 1005 may be displayed in an inoperablestate (shaded state) as shown in FIG. 17.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing a second variation of the test printingprocess in FIG. 16. The process in FIG. 18 differs from the process inFIG. 16 in that test printing is canceled when the numbers of printcopies for respective pages which each binder has are not the same. Itshould be noted that processes in steps S1601 to S1602 and S1604 toS1609 in FIG. 18 are the same as those in the steps S1601 to S1602 andS1604 to S1609 in FIG. 16, and therefore, only features different fromthe process in FIG. 16 will be described below.

As a result of the determination in the step S1601, when the number ofbinders constituting the print job 1401 is not one, the user interfacecontrol unit 301 grasps the numbers of binders for respective binders(step S1602), grasps the numbers of print copies designated forrespective pages which each binder has (step S1801), and determineswhether or not the numbers of print copies designated for the respectivepages are the same (step S1802).

As a result of the determination in the step S1802, when the numbers ofprint copies designated for the respective pages are the same, theprocess proceeds to the step S1605, and when the numbers of print copiesdesignated for the respective pages are not the same, the processproceeds to the step S1604. It should be noted that the processes in thesteps S1802 and S1604 to S1609 are carried out on a binder-by-binderbasis.

According to the processes in FIGS. 16 to 18, when the numbers of bindercopies for respective binders constituting the print job 1401 are notthe same, or when the numbers of print copies designated for respectivepages which each binder has are not the same, test printing is canceled(step S1604). When the numbers of binder copies set for respectivebinders constituting the print job 1401 or the numbers of print copiesset for respective pages are the same, the number of print copies iscounted with respect to a printing result of one binder or one page toestimate (grasp) the number of print copies of printing results of otherbinders or other pages, counting of the number of print copies does notrequire too much time and effort, and a user is unlikely to be confused.

On the other hand, when the numbers of binder copies set for respectivebinders or the number of print copies set for respective pages aredifferent, a user needs to count the number of print copies with respectto printing results of the respective binders or the respective pages.Particularly if test printing and main printing are distinguished whenthere are a number of binders or pages, a user needs to count the numberof print copies of printing results of test printing and printingresults of main printing with respect to each binder or each page, andhence counting of the number of print copies requires greater time andeffort, which may confuse the user.

On the other hand, in the processes in FIGS. 16 to 18, when the numbersof binder copies set for respective binders or the number of printcopies set for respective pages are different, test printing is canceledto eliminate the need for a user to count the number of print copies ofprinting results of test printing and the number of print copies ofprinting results of main printing, and as a result, the user will not beconfused when print data comprised of a plurality of sections is printedby the image forming apparatus having the test printing function.

Moreover, when the print job 1401 is selected on the print job list 1000displayed on the operating unit 202, and the numbers of binder copiesset for respective binders constituting the print job 1401 or thenumbers of print copies set for respective pages are different, thenumber-of-copies designation button 1701 and the test print button 1702are rendered inoperable as shown in the job list 1700. As a result, whenthe print job 1401 is selected, a user recognizes that test printing isnot allowed to be performed, and this prevents the user from continuingoperation while falsely recognizing that test printing is allowed to beperformed.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing a third variation of the test printingprocess in FIG. 16. The process in FIG. 19 differs from the process inFIG. 16 in that test printing is not canceled when the numbers of bindercopies for respective binders are not the same. Processes in steps S1601to S1603 and S1605 to S1609 in FIG. 19 are the same as those in thesteps S1601 to S1603 and S1605 to S1609 in FIG. 16, and therefore, onlyfeatures different from the processes in FIG. 16 will be describedbelow.

As a result of the determination in the step S1603, when the numbers ofbinder copies for respective binders are not the same, the userinterface control unit 301 displays, on the operating unit 202, awarning screen 2000 (predetermined confirmation screen) (FIG. 20) toindicating that test printing is to be performed (step S1901). Thewarning screen 2000 has a continue button 2001 and a cancel button 2002,and when a user depresses the continue button 2001 or the cancel button2002 (step S1902), the user interface control unit 301 determineswhether or not the button depressed by the user is the continue button2001 (step S1903). As a result of the determination in the step S1903,when the button depressed by the user is the continue button 2001, theprocess proceeds to the step S1605, and when the button depressed by theuser is the cancel button 2001, the present process is terminated.

According to the process in FIG. 19, when the numbers of binder copiesfor respective binders constituting the print job 1401 are not the same,the warning screen 2000 is displayed before test printing is performed(step S1901), and hence the user recognizes that it is necessary tocount the number of print copies of printing results of test printingand printing results of main printing with respect to each binder. As aresult, before test printing is performed, the user estimates time andeffort required later to count the number of print copies. Namely,greater time and effort than expected by the user is prevented frombeing required to count the number of print copies, and as a result, theuser will not be confused when print data comprised of a plurality ofsections is printed by the image forming apparatus having the testprinting function.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing a variation of the test printing processin FIG. 19. Processes in steps S1601 to S1603, S1605 to S1609, and S1901to S1903 in FIG. 21 are the same as those in the steps S1601 to S1603,S1605 to S1609, and S1901 to S1903 in FIG. 19, and therefore, onlyfeatures different from the processes in FIG. 19 will be describedbelow.

The user interface control unit 301 determines whether or not the buttondepressed by the user in the step S1902 is the continue button 2001 inFIG. 20 (step S1903). As a result of the determination in the stepS1903, when the button depressed by the user is the continue button2001, the number-of-copies designation screen 1100 is displayed on theoperating unit 202, and the user enters the number of print copies he orshe desires into the input area 1101 and depresses the confirm button1102. When the confirm button 1102 is depressed, the number of printcopies is changed to the number of print copies the user has input (stepS2101), and the changed number of print copies is reflected on the printsetting 805 in the bibliographical information list 800 by way of thejob management unit 305 and the data management unit 302 (step S2102),followed by the process proceeding to the step S1605.

According to the process in FIG. 21, since the number of binder copiesfor each of a plurality for binders constituting print data is changedafter it is indicated that test printing is to be performed (stepS2101), the user is allowed to change the number of print copies ofprinting results to be eventually obtained from the set number of printcopies, and it is thus possible to flexibly respond to a user's requestto change the number of print copies. Moreover, according to the processin FIG. 21, the user who has recognized that the numbers of bindercopies for respective binders are not the same by looking at the warningscreen 2000 changes the numbers of binder copies so that the numbers ofbinder copies for the respective binders can be the same. As a result,the user will not be confused when counting the number of print copiesof printing results.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing a fourth variation of the test printingprocess in FIG. 16. Processes in steps S1601 to S1603 and S1605 to S1609are the same as those in the steps S1601 to S1603 and S1605 to S1609 inFIG. 16, and therefore, only features different from the processes inFIG. 16 will be described below.

As a result of the determination in the step S1603, when the numbers ofbinder copies for respective binders are not the same, the userinterface control unit 301 displays, on the operating unit 202, a modeselection screen 2300 (FIG. 23) (step S2201). The mode selection screen2300 has a mode-1 button 2301, a mode-2 button 2302, and a cancel button2303. The user interface control unit 301 then determines whether thebutton depressed by the user is the mode-1 button 2301 or the mode-2button 2302 (step S2202). When the button depressed by the user is themode-1 button 2301, test printing is performed for only a binder fromwhich a plurality of printing results will be obtained, and testprinting is not performed for a binder of which only one copy will bemade (first mode), and when the button depressed by the user is themode-2 button 2302, test printing is performed for all of a plurality ofbinders (second mode).

As a result of the determination in the step S2202, when the mode-1button 2301 or the mode-2 button 2302 is depressed, the user interfacecontrol unit 301 notifies the job management unit 305 of the type of thedepressed button, followed by the process proceeding to the step S1605.As a result, test printing is performed based on the type of thedepressed button. On the other hand, when the cancel button 2303 isdepressed, the present process is terminated.

According to the process in FIG. 22, when the number of binder copiesfor respective binders constituting the print job 1401 are not the same,the first mode or the second mode is selected (step S2202). When thefirst mode is selected, test printing is not performed for a binder forwhich the designated number of print copies is one, and this preventsprinting results from being obtained for a binder of which printingresults do not have to be seen by going so far as performing testprinting. This prevents printing results of test printing fromunnecessarily increasing, and as a result, the user will not be confusedwhen print data comprised of a plurality of sections is printed by theimage forming apparatus having the test printing function.

It should be noted that although in the process in FIG. 22, when thenumbers of binder copies for respective binders constituting the printjob 1401 are not the same, the mode selection screen 2300 (FIG. 23) isdisplayed on the operating unit 202, and test printing is performed inthe first mode or the second mode, a mode in which test printing isperformed may be determined in advance. Specifically, before testprinting is performed, a test print mode determination screen 2400 (FIG.24) is displayed on the operating unit 202, and a mode in which testprinting is performed is determined by way of the test print modedetermination screen 2400. The test print mode determination screen 2400has an apply button 2401, a cancel button 2402, and checkboxes 2403 and2404. For example, when the checkbox 2403 is marked, and the applybutton 2401 is depressed, test printing is performed in the first mode.

FIG. 25 is a flowchart showing a variation of the test printing processin FIG. 18. Processes in steps S1601 to S1602, S1604 to S1609, and S1801to S1802 in FIG. 25 are the same as those in the steps S1601 to S1602,S1604 to S1609, and S1801 to S1802 in FIG. 18, and therefore, onlyfeatures different from the processes in FIG. 18 will be describedbelow.

As a result of the determination in the step S1802, when the numbers ofprint copies for respective pages are not the same, the user interfacecontrol unit 301 determines whether or not there are any consecutivepages for which the same number of print copies is designated (stepS2501). As a result of the determination in the step S2501, when thereare any consecutive pages for which the same number of print copies isdesignated, the user interface control unit 301 generates a batch (batchgeneration) from these consecutive pages (step S2502), and displays anumber-of-copies setting screen 2600 (FIG. 26) on the operating unit 202to set the number of print copies for each batch (step S2503), followedby the process proceeding to the step S1605. As a result of thedetermination in the step S2501, when there are no consecutive pages forwhich the same number of print copies is designated, the processproceeds to the step S1604.

The number-of-copies setting screen 2600 has a confirm button 2601, acancel button 2602, and a number-of-copies input sections 2603 and 2604,and for example, when two batches are generated in the step S2502, 1 and3 are entered as the numbers of print copies in the number-of-copiesinput sections 2603 and 2604, and the confirm button 2601 is depressedto set the numbers of print copies for the respective batches. It shouldbe noted that the steps S1802, S1604 to S1609, and S2501 to S2503 areperformed on a binder-by-binder basis.

According to the process in FIG. 25, when there are any consecutivepages for which the same number of print copies is designated, a batchis generated from these consecutive pages (step S2502), and the numberof print copies for each batch is set (step S2503). Thus, test printingand main printing are performed on a batch-by-batch basis, and thenumber of print copies of printing results of test printing and thenumber of print copies of printing results of main printing are countedon a batch-by-batch basis. This reduces time and effort for the usercompared to the case where the number of print copies of printingresults of test printing and the number of print copies of printingresults of main printing are counted on a page-by-page basis, and as aresult, the user will not be confused when print data comprised of aplurality of sections is printed by the image forming apparatus havingthe test printing function.

FIG. 27 is a view useful in explaining a test printing advanced settingscreen 2700 on which a batch to be test-printed is designated beforetest printing is started after the numbers of print copies forrespective batches are set in the step S2503 in FIG. 25.

Referring to FIG. 27, the test printing advanced setting screen 2700 hascheckboxes 2701 and 2702 for the first batch and the second batch,respectively, an execution button 2702, and a cancel button 2704. Forexample, the checkbox 2702 is marked, and the execution button 2703 isdepressed when two batches are generated in the step S2503 in FIGS. 25,1 and 3 are set as the numbers of print copies for the first batch andthe second batch, respectively, and the user desires to perform testprinting and see printing results only for the second batch.

As a result, the user is allowed to perform test printing and seeprinting results only for the second batch. Namely, whether or not toperform test printing is determined with respect to each of a pluralityof binders constituting print data, and hence the user is allowed toreliably recognize in advance a binder for which test printing will beperformed. Thus, the user will not be confused by the presence orabsence of printing results of test printing when he or she counts thenumber of print copies of printing results of test printing and thenumber of print copies of printing results of main printing with respectto each binder.

OTHER EMBODIMENTS

Embodiment(s) of the present invention can also be realized by acomputer of a system or apparatus that reads out and executes computerexecutable instructions (e.g., one or more programs) recorded on astorage medium (which may also be referred to more fully as a‘non-transitory computer-readable storage medium’) to perform thefunctions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/orthat includes one or more circuits (e.g., application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC)) for performing the functions of one or moreof the above-described embodiment(s), and by a method performed by thecomputer of the system or apparatus by, for example, reading out andexecuting the computer executable instructions from the storage mediumto perform the functions of one or more of the above-describedembodiment(s) and/or controlling the one or more circuits to perform thefunctions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s). Thecomputer may comprise one or more processors (e.g., central processingunit (CPU), micro processing unit (MPU)) and may include a network ofseparate computers or separate processors to read out and execute thecomputer executable instructions. The computer executable instructionsmay be provided to the computer, for example, from a network or thestorage medium. The storage medium may include, for example, one or moreof a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM),a storage of distributed computing systems, an optical disk (such as acompact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), or Blu-ray Disc (BD)™),a flash memory device, a memory card, and the like.

While the present invention has been described with reference toexemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is notlimited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of thefollowing claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as toencompass all such modifications and equivalent structures andfunctions.

This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No.2014-153769, filed Jul. 29, 2014, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

1-18. (canceled)
 19. A printing system including an informationprocessing apparatus which is capable of transmitting print dataincluding a plurality of sections for which different numbers of copiesare able to be set and a printing apparatus which is capable ofperforming test printing that prints, as a trial, one copy of aplurality of copies of print data for which the plurality of copies areset, the information processing apparatus comprising: a networkinterface configured to transmit print data to the printing apparatusvia a network; and the printing apparatus comprising; a networkinterface configured to receive print data from the informationprocessing apparatus via the network; a user interface configured toaccept, after the receiving of the print data, an instruction to performthe test printing for the received print data; and a controllerincluding one or more processors, wherein the controller is configuredto act as: a determination unit configured to determine whether thereceived print data includes the sections; and a prohibition unitconfigured to prohibit the user interface from accepting the instructionto perform the test printing for the received print data in a case wherethe determination unit determines the received print data includes thesections.
 20. The system according to claim 19, wherein the prohibitionunit is further configured not to prohibit the user interface fromaccepting the instruction for the print data determined by thedetermination unit to include only a single section, so that the testprinting for the print data determined by the determination unit toinclude only the single section is permitted to be executed.
 21. Thesystem according to claim 19, wherein the determination unit is furtherconfigured to determine, for the print data determined to include thesections, whether identical numbers of copies are set for all thesections, and wherein the prohibition unit is further configured toprohibit, based on at least the two determinations, the user interfacefrom accepting the instruction for the print data determined by thedetermination unit to include the sections.
 22. The system according toclaim 19, wherein the user interface displays a button for accepting theinstruction to perform the test printing for the received print data,and wherein in order to prohibit the user interface from accepting theinstruction to perform the test printing for the received print data,the prohibition unit makes the button being displayed on the userinterface disabled in the case where the determination unit determinesthat the received print data includes the sections.
 23. The systemaccording to claim 19, wherein the user interface accepts a selection ofthe received print data from a user after the receiving of the printdata, and wherein the determination unit determines whether the receivedprint data selected by the user includes the sections, wherein the userinterface accepts the instruction to perform the test printing for thereceived print data selected by the user in a case where thedetermination unit determines that the received print data selected bythe user does not include the sections, and wherein the prohibition unitprohibits the user interface from accepting the instruction to performthe test printing for the received print data in a case where thedetermination unit determines that the received print data selected bythe user includes the section.
 24. The system according to claim 19,wherein the user interface accepts, after the receiving of the printdata, another instruction to print all of copies of the received printdata, the another instruction to print all of copies and the instructionto perform the test printing being different instructions from eachother, and wherein the prohibition unit does not prohibit the userinterface from accepting the another instruction to print all of copies,even though the determination unit determines that the received printdata includes the sections.
 25. The system according to claim 19,wherein one of the sections corresponds to a banner page, and another ofthe sections corresponds to a plurality of copies of a document.
 26. Amethod for controlling a printing apparatus which is capable ofperforming test printing for print data for which a plurality of copiesare set, the method comprising: receiving a print job from aninformation processing apparatus via a network, the informationprocessing apparatus being capable of transmitting a print job includinga plurality of sections for which different numbers of copies are ableto be set; determining whether the received print job includes thesections; and prohibiting test printing for the print job that isdetermined to include the sections.
 27. The method according to claim26, wherein the test printing for a print job prints, as a trial, onlyone copy of a plurality of copies of the print job.
 28. The methodaccording to claim 26, wherein a test print instruction to perform testprinting for a print job is accepted from a user after the print job isreceived from the information processing apparatus, and whereinacceptance of the test printing instruction for a received print job isprohibited in a case where the received print job includes the sections.29. The method according to claim 26, further comprising: displaying ajob list including at least the received print job in which the sectionsare included; displaying a button for accepting, from a user, a testprint instruction to perform the test printing for a print job in thedisplayed job list; and accepting, from the user, a selection of a printjob from the displayed job list, wherein the displayed button isdisabled in a case where the print job selected from the displayed joblist by the user is the received job in which the sections are included.30. The method according to claim 26, further comprising: accepting,from the user, a print instruction to perform printing of the receivedprint job including the sections, even though the displayed button isdisabled for the received print job; and performing printing based onthe received print job, in accordance with the accepted printinstruction.